Shanghai Major groups revealed

While the Dota 2 Shanghai Major main event is still over a week away, the group stage of the tournament is about to begin. Valve has now revealed the team composition of the four groups: A, B, C, and D.

Group A includes Chinese powerhouses CDEC Gaming and EHOME, South Korean’s top team MVP Phoenix, and Europe’s Team Secret. EHOME is certainly the favorite to top the group, given their current #2 ranking in the world.

Group B consists of Alliance, Fnatic, Team Spirit, and Vici Gaming. Judging by current rankings, Alliance is the favorite to take the #1 spot, followed by Vici for second place.

The team composition of the four groups. Source: Team Liquid wiki.

Group C includes two elite Chinese teams—LGD and Newbee—along with NA’s Archon, and European newcomer OG, formed only in November of 2015, and best known for winning the previous Major at Frankfurt. Archon certainly looks a bit outmatched among such big names, and the battle for first place will likely go down between the other three teams.

Whoever was putting group D together must have had a sense of humor, because it can rightly be called the group of Death, including four incredibly strong teams – NA elites Complexity and EG, along with European powerhouses Virtus Pro and Team Liquid. While EG is the most likely to top the group, the #2 spot can easily be taken by any of the remaining three teams.

As a quick reminder, The Major runs as a double-elimination tournament, meaning that the two bottom teams from the group stage won’t be out right away, but have another chance in the lower bracket of the Main Event. The top two teams, on the other hand, will move on to the winners bracket.

Each group’s matches will be played on separate days, beginning with February 25 for group A and ending with Feb 28 for group D. The Main Event will take place a week later, between March 2 and 6 in Shanghai, China.